Emily's Story
by thosefanficsofmine
Summary: We go a little back in time to see our Corpse Bride's past, then her pov on her time with Victor, and then...who knows what the future may hold?
1. A Deathly Life

"My father doesn't approve of you," I wept, rubbing my eyes.  
"It's alright, Emily. Let's elope. We can take enough money to live on, and marry. We will finally be happy, and I will have my bride." He kissed me softly, and I smiled. I had dreamt about this day, about finding my true love and conquering all odds to be with him.  
"Okay! Let's meet in the woods, tonight. I'll grab pouches of money for us. Enough so that I can buy a nice dress," I gazed into the distance, picturing a frothy white gown and veil. He grinned at me, and nodded,before slipping away. I ran back to my parent's manor, excitement bubbling up inside me. Soon I would be a Mrs! My shoes slapped against the grey concrete as I approached the manor. I gulped, a lump forming in my throat, and pushed open the door.

Mother and Father were waiting, both stone-faced and obviously annoyed. "Where have you been, girl?" Father snapped, his brows furrowing. I shrugged, avoiding his steely stare.  
"Go to your room at once!" Mother screeched, and I did my best not to flinch.  
"Gladly!" I darted upstairs. I would not miss them. I locked the doors of my room, then barricaded it with a chair. It was mightily heavy, and bruised my hand. I didn't care a anymore. I flung open my carpet bag and threw in clothes and ornaments. I threw in my piano music and a silly old photograph of my childhood friend, Sally, and I. That was before mother banned me from speaking to other children. Had I forgotten something? Of course, the money! I put all my weight on the chair and shoved it to one side before unlocking the door. I sneaked into my parents' room, heart Pounding. I felt sweat trickle down my forehead. I saw three velvet pouches, and when I looked inside, saw that they were filled with gold coins. I grabbed them, and darted to my room before repeating the barricading. I tossed the pouches in my carpet bag, slipped the bag on my shoulder and opened my window. The moist wind whisked my hair back and played with my curls, and when I closed my eyes, everything felt so wonderfully dangerous. I loved the feeling of my beating heart, How aware I was of the blood pumping through my veins, of the uncontrollable wind whipping at me. I opened my eyes, and looked below. Now for the tricky part.

I hoisted my leg over the balcony and began to clamber down on the drainage pipe. I clung to it so tightly that red grooves appeared on my palms. When I finally got down, I felt free, like a butterfly. When I looked ahead, I didn't just see a forest. I saw a future. And I ran toward it.

I had been waiting for ours and my Barkis still hadn't arrived. I was shivering with cold, and my tiredness was terrible. The skies had darkened from grey to black and the trees surrounding me resembled terrifying monsters. Shivers slipped down my spine every moment. I hugged the carpet bag to my chest, the only source of warmth. Where was he? Where was my love? I hummed the bridal tune to myself, but it only sounded lost and odd. I stopped. My own voice seemed frightful in this light. The wind whistled a haunting tune, and it no longer seemed wonderful, but strange and sad and melancholy. I heard footsteps. Barkis? As I turned round, I was unsure of whom or what it was, for all I saw was a hooded figure holding a knife. The knife jittered into me, and my tiredness increased greatly. I smelt a strong odour of blood, and heard a jingle of coins being dragged from my carpet bag, and then all was dark.


	2. A Lively Death

Loud trumpet music. Joyful voices. Laughter. Colour.  
"Where am I?..." I mumbled, feeling sleepy and surreal. I knuckled my eyes. Whoa...my hands were skeletal...literally.  
"The world of the dead!" chorused a few skeletons, one of them donning a bowler cap. They seemed far too friendly to be dead. The bowler cap skeleton knocked back a tankard of ale, and I giggled a little as it Poured out through his bones. I was in a bar, a bar filled to the brim with blue-skinned corpses and skeletons, all of them grinning or drinking or laughing. This place was so atmospheric. I already preferred it to the human world of dullness, the world which I had never fitted into.  
"Am I - am I dead?" I asked in disbelief. I felt at my hair. It felt normal, but it was pale blue. The scraps of skin on my arms and legs and covering my face were that colour, too.  
"Well, knives are lethal!" a fellow blue woman with frizzy hair and an overweight body rolled her eyes at me. One green eye popped out and bounced on the floor. I screamed.  
"Ah, you can tell she's new. Madame, your eyes do the same," a bodiless head remarked, the thick French accent pleasing to the ear. My jaw nearly dropped. The chubby woman reached out and pulled my left eye right from its socket, and I felt no pain. It was curious, seeing one's eye squirming on one's bony hand. I felt unsettled, and pushed it back into its socket.

"Would you like a drink? You look awful," the bowler cap skeleton guffawed, pressing a tankard of ale into my hand.  
"It's unseemly, though, isn't it?" I chortled, repeating my parent's words. Oh please; I had never bothered to follow their homemade laws such as not speaking to men or showing your ankles. I loved living my life, and now I was definitely going to live my death. I threw the ale down my mouth, and though it tasted vile, I felt great.  
"Ah, a rebellious one! So, kid- what's a youngster like you doing down here?" bowler cap skeleton enquired.  
I frowned. "I got killed," I murmured. "My fiancé stood me up. He left me. For dead." My eyes narrowed in anger. Barkis. The evil, lying, uncaring fiancé.  
"Ah, it is far better down here than up there," the French Head sung.  
"I think you're right," I grinned. Barkis may have taken my dream wedding and my dismal life: but he had given me this amazing life-like death.

The overweight rolling-eye woman was called Marianne, I soon found out. I told her my name was Emily. "What a pretty name. Where are you sleeping tonight, Emily?" Marianne questioned, pouring several drinks for several skeletons.  
"I- I'm not sure. Is there property for sale?" I suddenly realised that life was not going to be simple. I would need Death Money, a nice house and bed and-  
"Oh darling, no! Money doesn't even exist down here. It's much nicer without it. There's coffins near everywhere round here, and we only really have one room rather than a house. In fact, I know a lovely room that comes with a coffin. I'll just get Annemarie to carry on working at the bar and I'll show you. Annemarie, Annemarie!"  
A skeleton with red lipstick shovelled onto her facial bones and a pink dress with a full skirt appeared from behind the bar door. "Yes, Marianne?"  
"Be a doll and serve these punters whilst I go show this darling new girl her room," Marianne smiled softly.  
"Oh, alright then," Annemarie's jaws parted in a grin and she began pouring drinks.

Marianne led me out of the glorious hustle and bustle of the bar and outside. There were lots of coffins and trees and spooky houses, but I realised I would love it here. She took me on quite a nice moonlit walk before we reached my room. We skittered down some stairs and then I saw it. It wasn't much, but it had a big coffin in it without a lid (I was claustrophobic) and the coffin seemed finely cushioned. The best part was the piano. It looked old,but it was a piano, and I loved music.  
"It's perfect! Thank you, Marianne!"


	3. A New Friend

I had grown extremely tired because of my eventful day, and after a lovely twinkle of my fingers on the piano, I decided it was time I took to my coffin. I didn't know how id fare, but when I got my head down, it was really quite comfortable. "Comfy are we?" an almost sour voice piped up. I sat up,looked around. Nobody was in sight.  
"Wh-who's there?!" I called, suddenly scared. A ghost, perhaps? Who knew what this death world inhabited?  
"Down here, idiot," the voice came from below. I jerked my head down, and my left eye fell out of its socket and zoomed down to the floor. I got on my hands and knees and grabbed it, but when I looked closely, I saw a green maggot perched on top of it. "This is MY room. Just because I'm little doesn't mean I don't deserve my own room. My sisters have their own rooms, in Annemarie and Marianne's heads. Y'know, I bet my sister Maggot-Mae persuaded her to give you this room in spite of me. Maggot-Mae can be really cru-"  
"Maggots live inside people's heads?!" I cringed, disgusted.  
"Of course. It's not painful or anything," Maggot furrowed his brows at me, his eyes showing a lot of judgement. "I can tell you're new around here," he shook his lime-green head at me. "Ok, I'm going to do you a favour. Pop this eye back in, with me on it, and you can see how it cells to have a maggot brain."

"Ooh no! It makes me cringe!" I protested.  
"Oh,don't be stupid. I can tell you're a brave one. Most newbies are in frightened tears by now," Maggot scoffed.  
"What have I got to lose?" I shrugged, before popping my eye back into my head, a green persuasion mechanism attached to it. It felt like there was something wriggling all over my brain- which there was- and then suddenly: "Not that bad is it?" I couldn't tell whether it was Maggot or my thoughts. It was so peculiar. I tugged my eye out with Maggot still on it.

"That's weird," I shook my head. "Not bad, though."  
"Puhlease can I live inside your head? Maggot-Mae and Maggot-Maud would be so jealous that I lived inside a tepid-blood. Annemarie and Marianne have been here for ages, so their blood has become cold. Warm-bloods only exist upstairs though. But in your head, I'd never get a cold," Maggot pleaded. I chuckled.  
"Sure. Come on then."


	4. Author's Apology

Author's Apology Note:  
I was just reading though this story and realised I have made some terrible typos. I apologise.


	5. The Corpse Bride

A white frothy dress and veil. I slide down the isle,an angelic beauty clad in wondrous garments. A loving husband awaits...

"Wake up, Emily!" My eyes fluttered open at Maggot's ratty voice. I sat up, stretched my arms. I let out a yawn. That dream was perfect. If only it had been reality. looked down at my clothes; normal brown fabric with a frayed hem. If only it was white lace.  
"Time to get out and socialise!" Maggot said it like it was wonderful, but it only put a weight on my heart. Thanks to my parents, I was awful at socialising with people. Barkis had started talking to me,but he obviously didn't really enjoy my company; he left me.  
"Oh noooo," I groaned, holding my head in my hands. I covered both eyes so that they wouldn't fly out.  
"Oh, shush. You'll be fine. Now get up, wash your face and brush your hair. You look like death," Maggot sighed. I raised one eyebrow, but did as I was told. I did feel better after a quick facial bathe and a brush tugged through my knotty hair, but I didn't admit it. I didn't want Maggot to be right for some reason.

I slunk out of my room and into the daylight. The world of death seemed brighter, less otherworldly in daytime, but it was still as creepy as ever. Coffins were everywhere, and so were skeletons. "Mornin', ma'am," one kindly skeleton greeted me, tipping his cap at me. I smiled in reply, but my cheeks coloured. I felt so awkward.  
"Oh, you're so pathetic. Ask him how he is."  
"Umm...how are you?" But he had already walked away. I pressed my palm to my face. I was rubbish at this.

I made my way to the bar, and on the way, I nearly bumped into a blue-skimmed man with a huge moustache - but he split in half and let me walk through him. "Uh- thank you," I called to him,and he nodded with a grin. I felt a lot more relaxed when I entered the atmospheric bar. Marianne waved at me, and as did Annemarie. I greeted the bowler cap skeleton, and he ruffled my hair affectionately.

"So, Emily- what kinda corpse are you? You see, we skeletons are skeletons. I'm the Entertaining Skeleton, and you can guess why. I like to put on a show, and I died during a technical issue on opening night hundreds of years ago. See, after a few centuries corpses turn into skeletons. But what corpse are you? The Corpse Dancer? The Corpse Lady?"  
"The Corpse Bride." The three words slipped out of my mouth easily, and I did not regret it. That was how I died, wasn't it? On the path to marriage.  
"I like it. Here's a toast to our lovely Corpse Bride!" Entertaining raised his tankard, followed by others. I grinned and blushed.  
"I knew you could do it," Maggot whispered.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying ourselves at the bar, and yet I felt empty. The Corpse Bride. That title really made me feel like a reject, which I suppose I was. I would never be a bride, would I? I clinked my tankard, got silence in the bar. "Hello, I'm Emil- I'm the Corpse Bride. I vow that until somebody from upstairs proposes to me, I will stay down here. But when an upstairs person makes those vows, he's coming down here! Alright?" I announced, to a roar of approval. I smirked. An upstairs person surely would make vows. Who was I kidding? Not even myself.

When I got back to my room, I was oblivious to even Maggot's voice. I ripped the white fabric covering the cushioning of my coffin (leaving the cushions red) and found a few needles on an old rickety table near the piano. I used a few strands of blue hair as thread and began sewing. Maggot kept asking me what I was doing. "Shush, Maggot, I'm working."  
Soon enough, it was ready. My wedding dress. My veil. I really was the Corpse Bride.


	6. Entertaining

"You look gorgeous, Em," Maggot remarked as I watched myself in the full-length mirror obstructed with a crack. I grinned. The dress wasn't perfect, and had a rather irritating hole in front of my ribs- but I really did look like a bride. At least, a dead one. The veil was perfect, though. I felt beautiful in it.  
"No upstairs boy could resist you," Maggot chuckled.  
"Quiet, Mag. Should I go to the bar like this?" I asked excitedly.  
"Definitely! Then Maggot-Mae and Maggot-Maud would see MY room has style."  
I took once last glance at myself, and then headed to the bar. I could not ignore the depressing feeling of this wedding gown that i would never use; it stood over me like a monster. Never mind. I was going to fit in here; I was going to be my own dignified corpse now.

"Ladies and Gentleskeletons, I bid you welcome the Corpse Bride!" I yelled as soon as I threw open the oaken doors.  
"Hurrah!" I heard many a deadman call.  
"J'adore le outfit, Madame. It just sings out 'vogue'!" French Head complimented, and I blushed and thanked him. Skeletons bowed to me, tipped their caps, winked. You know, one of these wouldn't be so bad for a husband. I decided I was going to set about finding one. Who did I talk to already? Ah yes, Entertaining. I strolled over to him with a sweep of a white veil and dress, and smiled graciously. "Hello, Entertaining," I raised my voice a little. The bar was incredibly loud tonight.  
"Ah, lovely Corpse Bride...how are you, my sweet?" he cooed, acknowledging my dress.  
"Better than ever. I love it down here," I replied, the lie hollow and obvious.  
"No. Something's troubling you," Entertaining frowned at me. I blushed, and turned away from him. My heart was beating.  
"I'm a rejected bride...that's my title now. It all feels so empty..." I whispered hoarsely. Entertaining took my hand in his and led me out of the vibrant bar. The inky skies and warm air calmed me.

"You're not a reject. You're very popular here, you know," Entertaining told me. My eyes fell to the floor (not literally this time). A thin skinless arm snaked round my waist, and for the first time in my existence, I felt loved. Every other time, I had felt adored or liked or admired or that time I was given the rush of danger when I ran away...but Entertaining made me feel loved. It wasn't even fake. I had talked to him for a husband, but I actually felt myself falling in love. Marriage didn't even matter.  
"Popularity doesn't bother me. I just don't fit in," I shrugged, nearly glad his arm slipped off my raised shoulders. I felt so peculiar in his arms. Entertaining threw his head back and laughed.  
"Nobody down here ever fitted In upstairs. We're far too colourful for the dullness of life. C'mon, Emily, you fit right in. We all love you!" Entertaining told me. My heart felt warm.  
"Hey, you're not falling for him are you?" I heard Maggot whisper, but I didn't answer.  
"Anyway, I gotta go. Go back to your room, Emily. Think of something nice," Entertaining kissed my hand like a gentlemen, and disappeared into the bar. I stared after him.

"Emily! You're a corpse! Entertaining is centuries older than you!" Maggot protested. I rolled my eyes.  
"Sh, Maggot. I don't just fall in love like that." But I knew that Entertaining made my still heart beat so fast I'd surely become warm-blooded sometime soon. I twirled and danced to my room, greeting every passer-by with a tuneful hello. I was no longer the little unsociable rebel I had once been upstairs. I was a happy, cheery non-rebel. It was funny how the most rebellious things upstairs were considered normal down here.

When I arrived at my room, I sat on my piano stool, closed my eyes and immediately began composing. I lost control of my fingers and my hands ran away from me, playing beautiful tunes themselves. I would call the magnificent piece 'The Entertaining Ballad'. I thought of lyrics in my head, but I couldn't sing them because of Maggot.

Facial bones carved by deathly angels  
Voice as perfect as can be  
My love for you is warning danger  
Me and you, you and me  
Entertaining, this is a ballad  
A love song? A tragedy? I cannot see  
Entertaining, this is a ballad  
Me and you, you and me  
My melancholy life did end  
Then began the deathly joy  
You were once a kindly friend  
Now, I am but a toy  
A puppet you control  
Who'd run through flames for you  
A puppet you control  
This Corpse Bride has started anew


	7. Halloween

"I am unbelievably excited," I grinned, dancing gracefully in my room. Annemarie had come over to style my hair for the Halloween Event tonight, and I am not afraid to say I looked divine. Annemarie's stealthy finger bones could turn my flat blue hair into an aquamarine delight, seriously. She was really quite nice. Everyone down here was.  
"You should be, girl. You're a stunner. Entertaining will fall so hard for you, it'll be like his second death. Death by falling in love," Maggot remarked. I was unable to tell whether it was a compliment, but I just grinned and told him love was a tune I had never heard before, and now it was all I lived - or died - for. I still had not admitted I was in love with Entertaining, though. Maggot already made enough fun when he heard me quietly singing the lyrics of my ballad to myself.

PYOU! PYOU!  
We heard the first set of fireworks blast off. "Oh dear, I'm late!" I cried, picking up my skirts and hurrying out of my room. I looked splendid tonight, and down here, Halloween was the biggest, most romantic night of them all. I knew Entertaining would love me when he saw me like this. Well, I hoped at least. As soon as I set foot out of my room, every outside space was crammed full of corpses and skeletons, little children, women, men, dogs, cats, gerbils. They were all out and about, cheering and laughing and bobbing apples. The full moon glowed overhead. It was truly magnificent. The downstairs world looked beautiful with the Halloween decorations strung left right and centre, and I felt enchanted.

"Where's the lover boy, then?" Maggot joked, and I fought the impulse to pull him out of my head and throw him on the floor, a quick stamp of the foot finishing the job. In fact, I was asking myself the same question. I had no idea where to look for Entertaining, and how to make it seem...accidental. Perhaps he'd be at the bar. I picked my way through the tight squeezes of blue bodies and bones until I recognised the vivid lights of the bar, even distinguishable when the whole world was covered in fairy lights. When I pushed open the door, hot air from the jam-packed room puffed my face. It was a sardine can in there.

Over the loud voices, I heard a gorgeous saxophone noise. And then a gorgeous voice to match. Entertaining. I practically dived through the crowds of people to get a glimpse. Annemarie smiled at me from her station at the bar, nodding in approval at the hairstyle. I managed to pull myself to the front row, right at Entertaining's foot. He noticed me with a grin, and jammed his cap on my head. That irritated me slightly because my hair was now a wreck, but I ignored it because I now possessed an item of his.

After spending half an hour trapped inside a sweaty mosh-pit at the foot of my beloved, I realised it was evident he would not be leaving his performance any time soon. I decided to enjoy the Halloween festivities on my own, rather than not at all. So I struggled out of the bar and into the street, my mouth uncontrollably twitching into a Cheshire Cat grin. It really was far better being dead than alive.

"Hey, Bride! You wanna make a jack-o-lantern with me?" called out a small skeleton child donning a cute pink girlish dress.  
"Sure," I replied, walking over to where she was stood. There was a pinewood table covered in untouched pumpkins, right beside a twin table covered in the guts and intestines of the pumpkins. The child was clutching a pumpkin with a perfectly carved face upon it.  
"Have you ever made one before, miss?" the little girl asked politely. I blushed. Of course, Mother had always deemed things like this unseemly. I had never done as I was told, not once in my life, but even so...touching the mangy insides of a pumpkin seemed a little vile.  
"No...no, I haven't," I answered. The girl's jaw dropped onto the floor in horrific surprise. I knelt down to pick it up for her, and she attached it again without difficulty.

"Here," the girl handed me a knife that gleamed with pumpkin blood and flesh. I felt a little ill, but I ignored it. She then showed me how to empty the pumpkin, lopping off the top part and spooning out the insides, shoving them upon the pinewood table. It now resembled a bowl. I copied her, and awaited the next instruction. She taught me to carve the face, making the eyes slant so they looked even more menacing. After one or two messy excuses for a lantern, I got the knack of it and created an amateurish jack-o-lantern. I popped a small candle inside it, before covering up the whole with the lopped-off lid. I was proud for a moment,until the girl showed me her Magnificent pumpkins. I remembered I had eternity to practise, and smiled.

As I strolled away, the cheerful child called goodbye to me, and set about to teach another newbie to carve a pumpkin. I tried out the various stalls, including dunking my head into a cauldron filled with water to fix my mouth on an apple, lobbing rocks at coconuts, and making 'potions'. I loved them all, but then I just wanted to watch the sky display. I found a lonely spot, and seated myself in good viewing of the starry night. Orange sparks would fly up from the ground, booming, cracking with light. Fireworks were just wonderful. I leant against the dirty wall and admired it all. Even Maggot was silent, full of awe.

"Spectacular, isn't it?" beside me sat Entertaining. My lips parted in a smile. The night was now perfect.  
"Yeah." I toyed with my soaked hair from Apple-bobbing, and laughed at myself. All that time trying to look good for Entertaining, all messed up with one dunk.  
"You look spectacular too," the skeleton grinned. "Especially in my hat." My cheeks fumed. I forgot I was sporting his bowler cap. I took it off, handed it to him, but he just pushed it back onto my head. "No. You look beautiful in it."  
I felt so joyous when he placed one arm over my shoulders, and though the arm offered no warmth or softness, it felt better than any human embrace. "Do you know how I feel about you, Entertaining?" I inquired, surprised by this sudden tenderness.  
"I do. and I feel equally. I love you, I know that now," he declared, holding my hand In his. "You feel so dejected, my dear. But you needn't feel like the unloved bride, not anymore. Somebody loves you." With that, Entertaining leant forward and kissed my lips. I rested my hands on his shoulders, and everything was perfect, the fireworks crackling overhead, the scent of pumpkin soup and toffee apples in the air, and Entertaining in my arms. Nothing could ever break that perfection.


End file.
